Maoist violence: High alert sounded in four Odisha districts

The Intelligence Bureau has issued an alert for four districts of Odisha bordering Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh advising the SPs to remain alert in the wake of violence by Maoists.

The districts are Koraput, Malkangiri, Sundargarh, and Keonjhar. The SPs of these districts have been advised to tighten security on the border and conduct frequent patrolling in those areas.

The alert came following multiple occurrences of Maoist violence including the blowing up of a railway track at Binuan village between Rourkela and Manoharpur railway station late Thursday night. Following the blast train movement on Howrah–Nagpur–Mumbai route was severely affected.

It is pertinent to mention here that various outlawed Maoist insurgent groups have called for a nationwide shutdown strike (Bharat bandh) on December 22 to denounce their recent encounters with security personnel.

Maoists on Wednesday had set on fire multiple vehicles and blocked the National Highway in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma hours after their encounter with security forces in the nearby forest.

Read | Maoists Blow Up Railway Track Near Rourkela, Train Movement Affected

A passenger bus, two trailers, and a pickup vehicle were set on fire by Maoists, police officials said. There was no loss of life in this arson.